


About the Boy

by steverogerstrash (theyvegotthisspellonme)



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Jewish Bucky Barnes, M/M, Modern!Steve, it's Steve and Bucky liking each other and having friends, modern!Bucky, there is not a lot of plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 08:12:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14972894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theyvegotthisspellonme/pseuds/steverogerstrash
Summary: “Hey, Stevie,” Bucky asks as soon as he hears Steve enter their bedroom. “What’s the dress code for this thing?”“Um, suits. I think. Just… make sure you look nice.” Steve says. “Not that you don’t always look nice!” He says quickly when he sees Bucky’s face. “But, you know, more nice? Like, fancy nice.” He finishes, face and neck turning redder by the moment. It’s all Bucky can do to not burst out laughing.“Anything for you, Steve.” Bucky says dryly.Or, the one where Steve and Bucky go to Tony Stark's holiday party





	About the Boy

**Author's Note:**

> wow, okay, I wasn't sure I would ever finish this haha. I also did not think it would be this long. 
> 
> written for sweet-barnes on Tumblr - congrats on 2k! I'm not sure if this was what you were expecting, but I had a lot of fun writing it!
> 
> Also, major thanks to my brainstorming buddy - this would not have gotten written without you, nor would it have a title.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (edit 6/21: made changes that I missed when I changed a plot point. should make more sense now)

“You want me to go to what?” Bucky asks. 

“The Stark Industries holiday party. It’ll be fun. Also, Tony threatened me.”

“Tony Stark personally invited you to his holiday party. God. I keep forgetting you actually know Tony Stark.” Bucky stands.

“Well, I’ve worked for him for years.” Steve shrugs. He crosses the room, taking a seat next to Bucky on the couch. 

Bucky nods - Steve had been working for Stark when they met, even before they’d started dating, and they’d been together for years. 

“You don’t have to go, I know you don’t love huge events like this-” Steve starts. Bucky interrupts him before he can work himself up too much. 

“I’d love to, Stevie. You want me there, I’m there.” 

“Thank you.” Steve says. He kisses Bucky gently, then gets up.

“Wasn’t sure I’d see you tonight. Thought you had to work.”

“I do,” Bucky sighs, “but not for another hour.”

“Oh, good.” Steve grins at him. 

“Steve, you know this would mean telling people.” Bucky says slowly.  Steve nods. 

“Only if you're ready. But, god, Buck, I love you. I want to marry you, and I want everyone to know.”

Bucky doesn't answer immediately, and it's a long enough pause that Steve starts to panic. But then he gets up, pulls Steve close. 

“I love you.” He says quietly before pressing a kiss to Steve’s lips. “I love you and I want to marry you  _ and _ I want to go to Stark’s terribly gaudy party and rub everyone's faces in it.”

“It’s a date.” Steve grins. 

\--//--

The day of the party is bleak and gray, like it might start snowing at any moment. Bucky loves it. He’s not sure what he wouldn’t do for a good snowstorm like the ones they’d seen growing up in Indiana, with the menorah burning brightly in the widow as the snow fell fast and hard outside. He loves living in New York, loves being in the middle of it all, but it’s the little things about Indiana that he thinks he’ll always miss. 

“Hey, Stevie,” Bucky asks as soon as he hears Steve enter their bedroom. “What’s the dress code for this thing?”

“Um, suits. I think. Just… make sure you look nice.” Steve says. “Not that you don’t always look nice!” He says quickly when he sees Bucky’s face. “But, you know, more nice? Like, fancy nice.” He finishes, face and neck turning redder by the moment. It’s all Bucky can do to not burst out laughing. 

“Anything for you, Steve.” Bucky says dryly. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve moans. “I love you. More than anyone in the whole world.”

“I bet you say that to all the boys.” Bucky laughs, just to see Steve shake his head, hard. “You look like a dog when you do that.”

“Tony will be wearing a suit.” Steve says, looking down at his phone and completely ignoring Bucky’s dog comment.

“Are you texting Tony Stark?” Bucky asks. “What is your life?”

“I text Tony Stark all the time.” Steve reminds him. Bucky shakes his head. 

“I’m gonna shower. No,” He says, before Steve can ask, “you cannot join me, because then we won’t make it to the party. And I want to show off.” He adds, waving his left hand around. His ring glints in the light of their bedroom. Steve laughs, but the look on his face is almost painfully fond. 

“I love you.” He says quietly.

“I love you too.”

\--//-- 

Stark sends a limo to pick them up, because he’s  _ Tony Stark _ , and Steve holds a significant position at his company, and this is Bucky’s life now. 

“You gotta get used to this, Buck.” Steve laughs when he sees the awed look on his fiance’s face. 

“I don’t know how I possibly could.”

The ride to the party itself is miraculously short, probably only because it hasn’t started snowing yet. Stark Tower is lit up with a myriad of different colors, greens and blues and reds and purples that shouldn’t work together but somehow do.

“I am one hundred percent sure that Pepper did all of the decorating, lights included.” Steve comments, almost like he’d been reading Bucky’s mind. 

They take the elevator to the penthouse, where Steve’s (probably drunk) colleagues await. Bucky has met a few of them before, Sam and Clint, namely, but mostly only because Natasha is friends with them, and he’s known Natasha for years. He’s not entirely sure  _ how _ Nat knows them, but there are quite a few things that he doesn’t really know about her. It keeps their friendship interesting. 

“Nervous?” Steve asks as the elevator stops. Bucky shrugs. 

“Don’t know if that’s the right word. But something like that.” 

“They’ll love you, because they’re good people, and because I love you. But if they don’t, screw ‘em.” They step out of the elevator together, hand in hand. 

“Steve!” Someone calls immediately. “You made it! I wasn’t sure you’d come.” And standing in front of them in Tony Stark, dressed in a glittery suit and wearing green-tinted sunglasses. 

“Hi, Tony.” Steve says, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile. “How’s Rhodes? And Peter?” 

“They’re great, thank you for asking. Rhodey is here somewhere,” Tony trails off, turning to look behind him. “The kid is here too, actually, but he won’t be all night. But who is this?” He asks, turning to Bucky.

“James Barnes.” Bucky says. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine, James Barnes. How do you know our Steve?” 

“We-” Steve starts.

“He’s my fiance.” Bucky interrupts. Steve grins. 

“What he said.” 

Stark just stares at them like he’s connecting the dots. 

“I knew you had a… that explains…” Tony trails off, nodding. “Right. Well, congratulations are in order, then. Let me get you a drink.”  He’s grinning, almost madly if you ask Bucky. But Steve doesn’t look concerned, just follows Stark towards the bar, nodding at whatever he’s saying. Steve turns and winks at Bucky while they walk, then goes back to listening to whatever the hell Tony Stark is talking about. He’s clearly very intelligent, and Steve considers him a friend, so he’s probably a pretty good guy. Besides, he’s starting to grow on Bucky. 

Most of the party is the same, people asking who Bucky is and him introducing himself as Steve’s fiance, which never gets old. Eventually, they find Sam and Clint and, surprisingly enough, Natasha, who is drunker than Bucky’s ever seen her and holding hands with Clint. She shrugs at Bucky’s raised eyebrow, a soft smile pulling at her lips. Bucky grins - they’ve been friends for a long time, he’s glad she’s so happy.

At one point, Tony Stark pulls Steve away, citing important business needing to be attended to, but Bucky’s pretty sure he just wants to pump Steve for information about their relationship.

“So when’s the wedding?” Sam asks. Bucky can tell he’s mostly teasing, but he shrugs anyway. 

“We’re not sure yet, we’ve both been so busy recently.”

“When did you get engaged? And why didn’t you tell me immediately?” Natasha asks, moving to drape herself over Bucky’s shoulder instead of Clint’s. 

“A month or two ago, at which point you were out of the country, as far as I knew. Hell, Natalia, I didn’t even know you were back.” Bucky points out. Natasha shrugs as best she can without really moving. 

“You know I can’t tell you these things.”

“Doesn’t mean we have to be happy about it.” Clint mutters. Bucky nods.

“What he said.” 

“Ganging up on me? How rude. Sam is my favorite now.”

“Oh, no. No way, Red. I am not getting tangled up in this ball of crazy. ” Sam laughs. Clint sticks his tongue out at him. 

“How’s your ball of crazy?” Bucky asks. Sam grins. 

“We’re all doing well. But the kids don’t really understand the idea of a grown up party yet. They wanted to come tonight.” 

“It’s certainly a spectacle.” Bucky mutters. 

“I keep forgetting that this is your first party. Yeah, they’re all like this.” Clint promises. Bucky grimaces. 

“And I have to keep coming?” He asks, mostly joking.

“Riley only got out of it because we couldn’t find a sitter.” Sam admits. Bucky sighs. 

“Lovely. Have you seen Steve? I need to see if we can leave early.”

“Good luck with that, man.” Clint laughs. “He’s Stark’s favorite.”

“Of course he is, he’s everyone’s favorite. But I’m  _ his  _ favorite, which gets me some pull.” Bucky laughs.

He says his goodbyes and makes his way over to the opposite side of the room where Tony had dragged Steve earlier in the night. Thankfully they’re still there, sitting around a low table with two people that Bucky’s never met. 

“Buck,” Steve calls as soon as he sees Bucky, “over here, come sit.” Bucky slides in next to Steve, because of course the Stark Tower penthouse has fancy couches everywhere instead chairs like at a normal party. 

“James, Peter, this is my fiance.” Steve says.

“James Barnes, hi.” Bucky can’t help but grin at the kid, he’s never seen someone look so excited to meet the significant other of some guy that works with… well, whoever Stark is to the kid. 

“Hi, I’m Peter. Peter Parker. Mr. Steve talks about you  _ all the time _ . He told me not to tell you, but I thought you’d like to know.”

“Uh, thanks kid.”

“Peter has an internship at Stark Industries. Tony is mentoring him.” Steve explains.

“I thought it would be a good idea for him to see the more social aspect of the business. This part is important too.” Tony adds. 

“I told him it wasn’t a good idea.” The other man says. “Colonel James Rhodes. Tony’s better half.” He adds, extending a hand towards Bucky.

“Ah, see, Steve is definitely  _ my _ better half.” Bucky laughs. 

“Hey, no knocking my fiance.” Steve says, knocking his shoulder into Bucky’s. He looks at Bucky for a moment, reading his face.

“About ready to go?” He asks quietly. Bucky nods. He’s reminded again why he’s eternally grateful for Steve - he’s so good at reading Bucky’s cues, especially in situations like these. He hasn’t had an anxiety attack in years, at least not like he’d used to, and Bucky’s sure that at least part of is Steve just reading situations better than he does. 

“Alright, I think it’s time for us to head out.” Steve says a few minutes later, taking advantage of a lull in conversation. Tony pouts, but Rhodey puts a hand on his shoulder and nods. 

“It was really good to see you, Steve. The two of you will have to come around for dinner some time.”

“It was good to see you too. But you know where to find me if you’re ever looking.”

“I try to stay out of the business part of the tower, you know that. Stresses me out.” Rhodey laughs. 

“Yeah, me too.”

“Hey, Mr. Steve?” Peter starts as they get up. His voice is quiet, like he’s nervous to ask.

“What’s up, Pete?” Steve asks, turing to fully face the kid.

“Do you think maybe I could take a picture of you and Mr. Barnes? It’s just… you two look really happy.”

“Thanks, kid.” Bucky says quietly. “Whaddya say, Stevie? One picture?”

“Anything for you, Buck.” Steve grins. They pose for Peter, then make their way to the elevator. 

“Thank you for coming with me.” Steve says quietly as they step out of the elevator. 

“I’m glad I did.” Bucky admits. “It was fun.”

“Think you’ll come back next year?”

“Dunno. Think we’ll be married this time next year?” Bucky asks, voice teasing. 

“Sounds reasonable. But we gotta start working now.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

They spend the ride home in silence, content to just sit, holding hands and enjoying each other’s company.

“Hey, Steve.” Bucky says later, as they’re getting ready for bed. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Buck. More than anything in the world.”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm [steve-rogers-trash](steve-rogers-trash.tumblr.com) on tumblr if you have thoughts/feelings/prompts/anything


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